, .
Exam
• Explain concepts and terms used in lectures and key texts - 8/20
(for example: what is Frontex? What does the European Commission
do? What is a EU directive? What is the European cart of justice?)
• Analytical question about one of the lectures - 6/20 ( can be a
figure, graph OR just text )
• Discussion question about a lecture, synthesis question - 6/20
, Lecture 1
The european project: some of the good, the bad and the ugly
Purpose of this lecture
• How did the European Union project emerge?
• What has been accomplished?
• What are big challenges?
• Is there a fundamental design flaw in the European Union project? Is the EU as we know it now optimal?
Introduction
• Antwerp 1944: bombings as Antwerp was a strategic location
because of the port
• France 1945: a lot of devastation at the end of the world war.
This is what a lot of places looked like after the war. This was
Europe.
• There were a lot of concentration camps, like in Dachau
( millions of people got murdered)
75 years later..
• A lot of refugees try to get to Europe on very tiny boats and die, as it is a very dangerous journey. It is
dangerous because of 3 reasons: dangerous seas, overcrowded boats and in a lot of countries they get
pushed back into the sea ( dirty secret of Europe)
=> the question then often asked is: how did we get from a demolished Europe to a Europe that refugees
want to come to?
A short history of the project called the European Union
-
Already long age large areas of Europe had previously been united by empires
such as:
• Roman Empire
• Byzantine empire
• Frankish empire
• Ottoman empire
• Nazi Germany
, Beginnings after WWII
• End of the second world war left Europe divided between the communist, Soviet dominated, eastern bloc, and
largely democratic western nations
• There were many fears over what direction a rebuilt Germany would take, as the blame they received after
the first one led to the second one. So, there was a perceived need to bind Germany into pan-european
democratic institutions
• Expansion of the communist east
→ what happened after the war was not self-evident, as there was a lot of anger and hate among the people
because people have been killed and homes have been destroyed. (Imagine Palestine and Israel or Ukraine and
Russia make peace. This would be a miracle, let alone embark on a joint project )
Altiero Spinelli:
• He did not believe in letting Germany pay after the second war
• Italian communist (irony, as one of the founding fathers of Europe was a communist)
• Locked up because of the fascist regime
• Communists thought that all workers should unite and there should be no borders
• However, he went further saying that there should be a kind of peaceful existence. . He wrote this in his
manifesto named: Ventotene Manifesto "for a free and united Europe'
Beginnings after WWII
• War left Europe exhausted, with industry greatly damaged. So, there was a need to rebuild houses, roads,
infrastructure, etc.
• Six neighboring countries agreed in The Treaty of Paris to form an area of free trade for several key
resources including coal, steel and iron ore, chosen for their key role in industry and the military.
• European Coal and Steel Community and involved Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy and Luxembourg. It
began on 23 July 1952 and ended on 23 July 2002, replaced by further unions.
• To manage the ECSC, a group of ‘supranational’ (a level of governance above the nation state) bodies
were created to legislate, develop ideas and resolve disputes:
Council of Ministers,
Common Assembly
Court of Justice,
→ from these key bodies the later EU would emerge
→ Signing of the treaty of Paris
Exam
• Explain concepts and terms used in lectures and key texts - 8/20
(for example: what is Frontex? What does the European Commission
do? What is a EU directive? What is the European cart of justice?)
• Analytical question about one of the lectures - 6/20 ( can be a
figure, graph OR just text )
• Discussion question about a lecture, synthesis question - 6/20
, Lecture 1
The european project: some of the good, the bad and the ugly
Purpose of this lecture
• How did the European Union project emerge?
• What has been accomplished?
• What are big challenges?
• Is there a fundamental design flaw in the European Union project? Is the EU as we know it now optimal?
Introduction
• Antwerp 1944: bombings as Antwerp was a strategic location
because of the port
• France 1945: a lot of devastation at the end of the world war.
This is what a lot of places looked like after the war. This was
Europe.
• There were a lot of concentration camps, like in Dachau
( millions of people got murdered)
75 years later..
• A lot of refugees try to get to Europe on very tiny boats and die, as it is a very dangerous journey. It is
dangerous because of 3 reasons: dangerous seas, overcrowded boats and in a lot of countries they get
pushed back into the sea ( dirty secret of Europe)
=> the question then often asked is: how did we get from a demolished Europe to a Europe that refugees
want to come to?
A short history of the project called the European Union
-
Already long age large areas of Europe had previously been united by empires
such as:
• Roman Empire
• Byzantine empire
• Frankish empire
• Ottoman empire
• Nazi Germany
, Beginnings after WWII
• End of the second world war left Europe divided between the communist, Soviet dominated, eastern bloc, and
largely democratic western nations
• There were many fears over what direction a rebuilt Germany would take, as the blame they received after
the first one led to the second one. So, there was a perceived need to bind Germany into pan-european
democratic institutions
• Expansion of the communist east
→ what happened after the war was not self-evident, as there was a lot of anger and hate among the people
because people have been killed and homes have been destroyed. (Imagine Palestine and Israel or Ukraine and
Russia make peace. This would be a miracle, let alone embark on a joint project )
Altiero Spinelli:
• He did not believe in letting Germany pay after the second war
• Italian communist (irony, as one of the founding fathers of Europe was a communist)
• Locked up because of the fascist regime
• Communists thought that all workers should unite and there should be no borders
• However, he went further saying that there should be a kind of peaceful existence. . He wrote this in his
manifesto named: Ventotene Manifesto "for a free and united Europe'
Beginnings after WWII
• War left Europe exhausted, with industry greatly damaged. So, there was a need to rebuild houses, roads,
infrastructure, etc.
• Six neighboring countries agreed in The Treaty of Paris to form an area of free trade for several key
resources including coal, steel and iron ore, chosen for their key role in industry and the military.
• European Coal and Steel Community and involved Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy and Luxembourg. It
began on 23 July 1952 and ended on 23 July 2002, replaced by further unions.
• To manage the ECSC, a group of ‘supranational’ (a level of governance above the nation state) bodies
were created to legislate, develop ideas and resolve disputes:
Council of Ministers,
Common Assembly
Court of Justice,
→ from these key bodies the later EU would emerge
→ Signing of the treaty of Paris
